The Vacation
by IfEverythingWasEverything
Summary: A spontaneous decision lands Santana in France alone and completely unprepared, as she tries to run from her problems back home. She meets a gorgeous blonde American there; Quinn who is more then accommodating to her, as the two girls spend time together a mixture of feelings start to develop leaving them both in tricky situations, as their pasts unfold will it be worth the risk?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Don't panic._

_Do not panic. Don't do it. Just breathe._

"Breathe" Santana whispered to herself, but could barely hear if the word left her mouth or not over the noise of the airport.

_You totally just didn't arrive in a foreign country by yourself with no plan, because that would be crazy. I'm not crazy._

"Ugh, yes I am" Santana argued with her thoughts as people swarmed around her in a flurry jostling her about. She ran a hand through her dark hair and looked around, every sign she looked at was in a different language, people were starting to give her strange and frustrated looks as they pushed past her as she stood having a minor panic attack in the middle of the Nice airport. She spun around desperately trying to look for someone or something that could help her. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain hit her foot, she looked down and saw a woman pulling a floral suitcase whilst clutching a bag and holding tightly on to the arm of a young boy in boy spin around flustered.

"Je suis désolé madame" the woman gasped realizing what she had done and shaking her head at herself "désolé, désolé!" she continued

"It's okay" Santana said figuring she was apologizing "Don't worry about it" she tried to give a reassuring smile to the woman before realizing she should go and collect her own luggage.

Looking around she realized she might be here for hours if she had to find it herself, finally she spotted the familiar information symbol on a sign not too far from her, making her way over to the desk she couldn't help but feel glad there was no queue when she arrived, she was already sick of the crowds here.

"Bonjour" the friendly man behind the desk greeted her with a warm smile

"Hi…uh bonjour" Santana said managing a brief smile "I need to find my suitcase"

The man looked at her confused "it is lost, oui?" he asked

Santana's eyes widened "what? no, i just need to find it" she said

"in here" she gestured around "where?"

The man shook his head "sorry, I don't understand, if it is not lost then why do you need help to find it?"

Santana took a frustrated breathe. _Why didn't I got to an English speaking country _she thought.

"Because I just got off the plane and I have no idea where to go from here" she said realizing immediately she spoke way too fast for him to keep up with

"Madame" he said seeing her frustration "how can I help?"

"I need to find the round thing with the suitcases" she said gesturing the conveyor belt

"Ah!" he exclaimed "Oui, oui, oui"

"Yes?" Santana said her eyes widening "You know where?"

"Mm" he said and pointed off into the distance "Straight ahead on _ze_ left"

"Thank you" she said a smile spreading across her face "thank you, I mean merci"

She fought her way towards the luggage claim and heaved a sigh of relief when she almost immediately saw her suitcase come past, dodging around several people to get closer she tried to grab it as it went past her but much to her luck she couldn't quite reach and it slipped past her continuing around it's loop.

"Fuck" she swore louder than intended causing several people to send her disapproving looks. Ignoring them, she watched her suitcase travel travel the entire loop and right before it almost disappeared back through the black flaps a hand reached for it and pulled it off.

"What" Santana muttered trying to see who took her suitcase but the persons face was blocked by about five other people

"You have got to be kidding me" she said and spun around crashing into an elderly couple who staggered back a couple of steps

"Sorry" Santana said "Sorry, I just…sorry" she kept her head down and bumped through the small crowd that had now gathered around the baggage claim, and burst out into a gap seeing her suitcase up ahead of her being wheeled away.

"You have got to be kidding me" she said to herself "I am so not in the mood for this airport action scene today"

Taking a deep breath she quickly left behind all embarrassment and dignity and went charging forward at full speed, leaping over suitcases, dodging small children and pushing through everyone else.

_Typically the person that takes my suitcase has like the longest legs on the planet _she thought as she struggled to keep him in sight. Follow the overgrown teenage man-child in the varsity jacket and baseball cap she told herself, keep your eyes on him. She watched as he headed for the big glass doors and accelerated herself forward perhaps a little too much as she realized quite suddenly she couldn't slow down as fast as she had hoped and went flying straight into his back.

"Oh my god" she said mortified picking herself back up and off the back of the tall stranger.

"I am so sorry, this has happened way too many times today" she started rambling trying to cover up how horrified she was

"Hey, hey it's fine" he said turning around speaking with a familiar American accent "at least it wasn't some huge sweaty fat guy right?"

Santana chuckled "I'm surprised I haven't taken one of them out yet today, I've managed almost everyone else"

The guy laughed, he didn't look much older than she was, except he was probably the tallest person she had ever met.

"Well" she said glancing at her suitcase "I hate to break it you dude, but that's mine"

He looked at her confused for a moment then down at the suitcase, he reached down and flipped the luggage tag over and groaned.

"Oh my god" he said "now it's my turn to be sorry"

He handed the suitcase back over to her and she smiled at him

"It's all good, i'm just glad I didn't have to fully tackle you or follow you back to your hotel to get it"

He laughed again and his chocolate brown eyes sparkled

"I'm Finn Hudson" he said sticking out his hand

"Santana" she said briefly shaking his hand

"Just Santana?" he asked with a cheeky grin "is that like Beyonce or something?"

"It very well might be, watch this space" she said a smile forming on her lips

"Well just Santana, have a good trip and i'm sorry for almost stealing your suitcase" he paused "I'm glad you realized before I did because i'm not sure how well it would go down with my girlfriend if she saw all your stuff in there" he laughed nervously at the thought

Santana smirked "Tell your girlfriend she's welcome" she said almost sarcastically "i didn't really fancy spending my whole vacation in this one outfit"

He let out a loud chuckle

"have fun going back in there" she said

He rolled his eyes "here I was thinking I got away easy"

"Maybe next time" she said as they began to walk away from each other

"Bye Santana" he called out

"Bye Finn Hudson" she said with a smile

_Maybe this trip wasn't going to be so bad after all _she thought as she walked outside into the warm French summer sun.


	2. Chapter 2

She was wrong.

Things were going from bad to worse.

The line outside for taxis was ten miles long, people were shouting and laughing and trying to talk over the noise of the planes. The sun was beating down hotter then Santana had first expected and she was beginning to break out into a sweat.

_What am I doing, what am I doing, what am I doing, you should just go home now_ Santana thought and placed her hand on her forehead, she was hot both in a physically attractive way and her body temperature. She looked around bewildered and desperate to find some kind of transport to get her as far away from the airport and as close to the beach as she could.

As the minutes passed without any luck, she began to feel the sun slowly melting her skin, shaking her head she turned and wheeled her bag back inside, giving up for the time being. _At least in here it's air conditioned _she thought then spotted the bathrooms and continued walking over to them. Trying not to awkwardly bump or trip anyone as she went in, she carefully parked her suitcase right out of anyones way. Catching glimpse of herself in the mirror she stopped and let out a puff of air.

"Damn" she said to no one in particular "that is a hot mess"

The Latina's sleek black hair was unusually messy as she hadn't touched it since she boarded the 10 hour flight from Miami, her v necked white t-shirt was slightly crumpled and had fallen out of being tucked into her black and white polka dotted high waisted shorts. She walked towards the sink and leaned on it with a hand on each side, staring at herself intensely, her dark tired eyes looked back at her.

"Santana" she told herself into the mirror

"What the fuck are you doing, are you crazy? You can't just _leave_, you can't just run away from your problems, you're twenty one now, you need to grow up" she looked at the frustrated girl looking back at her and shut her eyes, hanging her head a little and muttering "chica estúpida"

The cubicle door behind her opened slowly and an older woman walked out.

"You know dear" she said, coming up to the sink next to Santana and washing her hands, her British accent filling the room "running away from your problems is childish, but only adults ever seem to do it, however what's life without a few adventures" the woman paused by the hand towels "I got a husband from mine"

Santana looked up at the lady who winked at her "go and have fun, this is France, enjoy yourself"

"I'm sorry but you are?" Santana asked as the woman headed for the door

"No one dear" she replied "just someone who overheard you talking to yourself in the ladies" and with that she was gone. The door to the bathroom shut and Santana was alone. Looking back at herself in the mirror she sighed.

"Maybe she's right" she told herself, there really was no point in going home now after she ended up coming all this way.

_"_Okay" she told herself "you're a confident and capable woman, you're gonna walk outside and find a ride"

Taking one last look at herself she nodded and marched over to her suitcase and bags gathered them up and went back outside.

"Hey Beyonce" an American voice called out "Over here"

Santana suddenly spotted Finn waving out the window of a silver mercedes, she quickly dashed across the road towards Finn while people were loading suitcases into cars and vans.

"Hey" she smiled at him noticing another curly haired guy who was behind the wheel of the car, he was increasingly well dressed, in a crisp white button down shirt and navy clean cut shorts.

"You need a ride somewhere?" he asked

Santana was about to say no when she realized she really had no other options

"That would be great, thank you" she said and Finn gestured for his friend to open the boot, as soon as she heard the click she went around to the back and loaded in her suitcase before sliding into the backseat.

"Thank you so much" she said again "I really didn't want to be a pain, but it's literally impossible to get a ride around here"

"Benefits of having a friend here" the guy behind the wheel said "I'm Jesse" he said turning around in his seat and reaching his hand back for Santana to shake, his smile wide and friendly.

"I'm Santana" she said shaking his hand with a smile "thanks for the ride"

"No problem" he said pulling on his shades and starting the car "so how do you know Finn?"

"He stole my suitcase" Santana said "I had to chase him through the airport"

Jesse laughed "sounds typical"

"so Finn" Santana said wanting the keep the awkward silence on delay for as long as possible

"Where's this girlfriend of yours? or am I calling your bluff?"

Finn grinned and looked at Santana through the rearview mirror

"She's at mine" Jesse said and Santana lifted an eyebrow

"Well that's all kinds of wanky" she muttered

Finn shook his head and laughed "Jesse is her best friend"

"I live here, mostly" Jesse explained "and she comes to visit as often as she can, my family owns the St James mansion in the country and a bed and breakfast by the coast, I help them run it, well when I'm not in New York that is"

_St James Mansion _Santana thought, well that explains the impeccable almost to gay standard of dressing.

"What's in New York?" Santana asked

"Broadway" he replied with a grin

"Oh wow" Santana said genuinely impressed

"So where are we taking you Santana?" Finn asked

"Oh" Santana said suddenly realizing that she had embarked on this completely spontaneous trip with absolutely no plan whatsoever

"Um, actually I don't really know, this was sort of a spare of the moment decision to come here"

"Well would you like to stay with me?" Jesse asked

"Oh no" Santana said "I wouldnt want to impose"

As much as she was thankful for their help she really didn't feel like spending her vacation with a rich broadway Michelangelo and two love birds. She was more then ready to get away from people altogether, that was why she ran, wasn't it?

"Are you sure?" Jesse asked again "because there is more than enough rooms"

"Really" Santana said trying to sound convincing that she would be fine on her own "It's fine"

"Alright if you insist" he said "I'll drop you at the Clarion Grand, I have a friend who works there"

"Oh great" Santana said trying to sound optimistic "That sounds…"

"Perfect" Jesse said "It's amazing there"

"I was going to say expensive" Santana mumbled under her breath

The car pulled over outside a huge hotel and Jesse jumped out of the car waving at the valet with pleasant smile

"Bonjour Samuel, comment ça va?"

"Très bien Mr St James" the valet smiled at Jesse's kindness, he gestured for Santana to follow him into the hotel. As she got out of the car Finn reached out of the window and grabbed her arm

"See ya round Beyonce" he smiled "Have a good trip"

"You too Finn Hudson, thanks for everything" she replied returning the smile, she went round the back to get her bags out and the valet came running up to her

"Non non non" he said giving her a smile and putting his hand in front of hers "You go with Mr St James" he said "I'll get your bags"

"Merci" Santana said finally remembering to use French

The lobby of the hotel was bigger than all of the rooms in her apartment building put together, a giant white staircase with black decorated railings stood as a sweeping structure in the middle. Couches and small coffee tables were scattered decoratively around the edges of the room, Jesse was already at the front desk chatting to the man behind it.

_Penny loafers? _ She thought seeing Jesse's shoes _god someone tell me that boy is gay and rich please._

"Santana" he said turning around and waving for her to come over.

"I was hoping you'd have a room available for my friend here" he said with a charming smile "she's just arrived from America and I want her to get the full Nice experience" "I will have a look for you Mr St James" the man said looking at the computer screen in front of him

"Do you have anything available in the penthouses?" Jesse asked and Santana's eyes widened and she could almost feel the ache of her bank account

"Oh no that's not necessary really" but Jesse ignored the comment and just looked at her smiling

"Yes we do" the man said "how long will you be staying?"

"Just a week" Santana said, she may have made a crazy decision to suddenly leave but she knew it couldn't be forever and so she had made sure she got a return flight back home to Miami.

"but I really don't need-" Santana's argument was cut off by Jesse

"Perfect!" he exclaimed "thank you so much, she'll take it"

"I-I'll take it?" Santana stuttered

"7000 Euros" the man said and Santana choked back a sob

"But" he continued "with your special discount Mr St James, only 4000"

"4000" Santana repeated _live with no regrets _she repeatedly told herself

"Thank you Edmond" Jesse said with a wide grin and took Santana's visa card right from her hand and gave it over to him

"Thats quite a discount you get there" Santana said leaning forward on the counter and whispering in Jesse's ear

"My family holds large charity events here sometimes, they rake in a lot money when we do" he quietly replied

"All done" Edmond said handing the card back to Santana

"Ah! Edmond you life saver, take care of my friend now" Jesse said patting Santana on the back making her cringe _god i'm not a dog_ she thought, she was never really enthused by people touching her without good reason.

"I hope you have a good stay here" he said to her "if you need anything give me a call" he flicked a card out of a shiny silver tin in his pocket and handed it to her

"Thank you" was all Santana could manage to say "a lot"

"No worries" Jesse smiled "au revior!" he called out as he turned and ran towards the door

Before Santana could say goodbye Edmond started talking again

"Here is your room key" he said sliding it across the counter "and your bags are already in your room waiting"

"Okay, mercy" Santana said with a smile taking the room key as well as a deep breath.

_4000 euros_ she thought as she got into the elevator _this room better come with hot french models and endless breadsticks._


	3. Chapter 3

Much to Santana's dismay there were no hot models, but there was a view and that was almost better. Standing on the balcony the warm summer breeze consumed Santana as she stood breathless looking over the coast of Nice, the ocean sparkling a gorgeous sapphire blue in the distance. Turning around and looking back into her suite the light curtains fluttered revealing the bed to Santana's sight. She looked at the bed letting out the smallest of sighs, she knew she wanted to be here by herself, and in a way she needed to be. Alone. At least for a while, but part of her craved that feeling of lust, oh how perfect it would be to have someone here with her to share this amazing experience.

Memories of her girlfriend Brittany flooded her mind. _Girlfriend_ she thought _more like ex girlfriend. _Walking back inside she collapsed onto the bed, she had had a hard break with Brittany, they had known each other for years and their relationship had taken forever to build up but it hadn't worked. It didn't. Something about them just didn't gel like it was supposed to when you were in love. Santana had tried everything though to try and make it work, she didn't want to lose Brittany ever. Brittany had been the love of her life, or so she had thought. She didn't know she could live without Brittany, but it had been almost two months now and she was doing better then she had expected. _Or not_ Santana thought _I did run away to a foreign country to avoid my own life_. Santana turned her head so she was looking back out the doors onto the balcony, the afternoon sun shone brightly in through the doors beckoning Santana to go outside and enjoy it. It didn't take her long to realize she may as well not wallow in her sorrows in her suite when she was in Nice and the perfect summer weather was the only thing waiting for her outside.

She quickly changed her clothes, having felt like she had been wearing the same crumpled top for far too long, she pulled a very small pair of ripped denim shorts and a red cropped t-shirt that fell loosely off one shoulder and exposed her tone and tanned stomach. Grabbing her sunglasses and bag she headed for the door, she strode across the lobby and outside before realizing she really had no idea where she was going. Stopping abruptly outside the doors of the hotel she glanced to the left, and then to the right trying to decide which was to go.

"Madame" Samuel called out coming over to her

"Are you okay madame?"

"Oui" Santana replied "I'm uh…just…where should I go?" she finally asked him

"Where do you want to go madame?" he asked "shops? beach?"

"Shops sounds good" Santana said and Samuel nodded turning around and signaling a car

"Gaston will take you" he said and Santana lifted an eyebrow

"Who now?"

"Gaston" he repeated as the car came up next to them, Santana looked over Samuels shoulder and saw the taxi sign on the top of the car.

"Okay" she said as Samuel opened the door for her "thank you"

"try 'merci'" Samuel said giving her a playful wink as she slid into the car

"Right, sorry" she said, Santana had taken French in high school for at least a year, but the majority of that time she was never in class, the teacher was a dodgy old lady who came to class almost less than they did and they never appeared to be learning anything useful when she was there anyway.

Santana gazed out the window as Gaston drove, everything seemed so surreal, even down to the fact she was in France. She could barely believe it, 24 hours ago she never would have imagined she would be halfway across the world lost in another culture. She had only left the country two other times, once was a family vacation they took to Fiji when she was eleven, she remembered very clearly spending hours getting her hair entirely braided, the other time was for dance competition in Rio.

Out the window the amount of people on the sidewalks started to increase, the car passed several stalls that were set up selling jewelry and home baked bread.

"What's this?" Santana asked Gaston

"The markets madame" he replied "very popular"

Santana continued watching out the window as they passed more and more stalls that spilled off into side streets and onto the road, with people milling around everywhere, children running around chasing each other and people carelessly having conversations in the middle of the road. The car was moving at a crawling speed.

"I'm sorry madame, I should have gone the other way" Gaston apologized

"No it's fine" Santana said not taking her eyes off the markets in front of her

"You know I think I might get out here and have a look around"

"Oui madame" Gaston pulled the car over and Santana handed the money over to him before she got out

"Merci" she said thanking him before he drove off.

As soon as she was out of the car she felt completely content with her life currently, the warm afternoon sun kissed her skin as she wandered towards the stalls, the sound of children laughing and the beautiful sound of the French language drifted through the air, with the smell of fresh bread wafting past her nose making her stomach rumble. Realizing how hungry she was and that she probably hadn't eaten for hours she decided that food would be the first thing to do. She was almost overwhelmed by the amount of food stalls there were, there was people selling fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, crepes, more bread, more crepes, pastries, quiches, cheeses. Stopping at a crepes stand she pointed at the strawberry and chocolate one and handed over some money. Her stomach growled again as she watched them making it, their hands so quick and elegant, chopping up the strawberry with such precision and speed then flipping the crepe and filling it then folding it and coating it in chocolate sauce. _Why am I not a French cook _she thought to herself _I should be the next Julia Child. _Taking a bite of the crepe she realized just how hungry she was, one she started eating she couldn't stop, the sweetness was addicting, the fresh juiciness of the strawberries with the warm chocolate sauce was one of the most satisfying food experiences she had ever had.

As she put the serviette in the rubbish she caught sight of a young Asian girl lying back on a bench studying a French/English book, suddenly Santana realized that was probably exactly what she needed, after all her French was less then average. She continued to wander through the markets looking for a book stall, she stopped at a fresh fruit and vegetable stall captured by the wildly bright colors. _Vegetables are not meant to look this appealing _she thought to herself reaching towards the vine of reddest tomatoes she had ever seen in her life.

"La pomme d'amour" a voice said from behind her Santana spun around the tomatoes still in her hand

"What?" she asked startled, her eyes wide

"You're American" the girl who had spoken said

"So are you" Santana replied with a slight smile looking at the pretty blonde next to her

"The French used to refer to tomatoes as the "apple of love"" she said nodding towards the tomatoes that Santana still clutched in her hand

"Is that what you said before?" Santana asked studying the blonde's face "in French?"

The blonde nodded her cheeks going the faintest shade of pink

"You don't speak French?" she asked Santana

"I do" Santana found herself saying but quickly correcting herself "I mean I don't, I know like four words"

The girl laughed "well that's impressive" she said her magnificent golden looking eyes flashed a cheeky sparkle

"You can't be good at everything right?" Santana found herself with a smile stuck to her face

"True" the blonde said, her eyes briefly grazing Santana's stomach but not quick enough for her not to notice, she even noticed the girl softly biting down on her rosy bottom lip as she looked. _God she's beautiful_ Santana thought to herself as she took her turn at subtly checking out the blonde who was wearing a cute blue and white sundress that came in at the waist showing off how slim she was through the middle. Her honey blonde hair was in a messy side braid and she had a basket dangling off one arm. Santana realized that must be around the same age as herself.

"So are you buying those tomatoes?" she asked snapping Santana from her daze

"No actually I was just admiring the colour, vege's don't seem as appealing back home" she said letting out a nervous giggle, shocked with herself for being capable of giggling like a little girl she quickly stopped herself and put the tomatoes back but the blondes hand intercepted brushing against her own it suddenly felt like she had been sparked with electricity. She looked over at the girl who's face was now increasingly closer to her own as she leaned in for the tomatoes, she was so close in fact Santana could smell the sweet smell of her perfume, which was like a mix of raspberry and strawberry.

"and that's why I buy them here" the blonde said putting them in her basket and passing a few Euro's over to the woman who was sitting behind the stall in the shade.

"Market shopping is so much more fun than the actual grocery store" she said with a cute smile

"You live here?" Santana asked lifting an eyebrow with curiosity

"Yeah" she said whilst inspecting an eggplant

"That's really cool" Santana said not wanting the conversation to end, there was something about this girl that was so special.

"I'm Santana by the way" she said bravely

The blonde girl looked up at her with her gorgeous smile "I'm Quinn" she said "it's nice to meet you"

"Yeah you too" Santana smiled back

"So how long have you lived here?"

"Oh um, several years" Quinn said disappearing round to the other side of Santana to look at more vegetables

"That's amazing, it's just amazing here" Santana said

"It really is" Quinn said handing a few more euros over to the lady and adding a small paper bag of mushrooms to her basket

"Where are you from?" she asked after a moment of silence

"I'm actually from Ohio" Santana said scrunching her nose up at the thought of it "But I live in Miami now"

Quinn looked up at her impressed "well that is certainly an upgrade"

"Tell me about it" Santana said "best thing that's ever happened to me, until, maybe this"

Quinn looked over at her again with a smile creeping onto her face "really?" she asked cutely

"Yeah I mean…" Santana's voice trailed off as her eyes met with Quinn's

"It's perfect" she said there eyes still locked, Quinn's eyes fluttered and she looked away shyly the smile still on her face

"Well" she said "I've really got to go, I'm late for everything as usual" she stopped in front of Santana before she left

"Have a good time here" she smiled "I'll see you round, maybe"

"I hope so" Santana mumbled as the blonde turned to leave, Santana watched her until she had fully disappeared into the crowds of the market. She stood there for another few seconds biting her lip trying to hide the smile that was trying to creep onto her face.

"Ah young love" the lady in the shade behind the euro stall shook her head with a smirk and Santana looked at her feeling her cheeks burn a bright pink

"Au revior" she said quickly and turned around rushing quickly away from the stall.

That night Santana sat out on her balcony with a glass of wine and a plate of cheese and grapes, she could definitely get used to living this life. The summers night was warm and clear, the stars twinkled above her and if she listened closely over the sounds of the voices and music she could hear the ocean. It was strange having nights to herself, she was so used to working all her nights at the club the daylight had been a nice change for her. She enjoyed the serenity of Nice, it was a relaxing change from the busy, loud chaotic streets of Miami in summer. She worked at a club and lounge called Amnesia, it was one of the most popular lounge's on Miami Beach, she worked as a bartender, a singer and occasionally she'd dance, it's where she'd met Brittany, Brittany was the best dancer the in the whole of Miami. And Santana, she wanted to be a singer and there she could be, people would even come to the club just to hear her, as long as when she wasn't on the stage she could mix a dirty sex on the beach, her life was pretty sweet.

However sitting outside in the beautiful night air Santana couldn't help but feel as though maybe she didn't belong in Miami anymore, maybe somewhere like here was better suited to her. Taking a sip from her wine she found herself thinking about Quinn again, the electric feel she had gotten when their hands brushed together and the way she found herself frustrated the fact she would probably never see her again. She didn't understand why Quinn had that effect on her, of course she was gorgeous but Santana had never gone for someone like that before. She had always found herself in the company of tattooed, pierced druggies, or hot Miami girls who's entire closet was just bikini's.

_What are you doing_ Santana thought shaking trying to shake the blonde from her mind _you came here to get away from everything and everyone remember? Don't make this more complicated._


End file.
